West African CFA Franc (XOF)

Headquartered in Dakar, Senegal, the Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (BCEAO) manages monetary policy for the entire West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). Created in 1962, it serves eight nations sharing one currency — a rare monetary arrangement on any continent. The CFA franc holds a fixed peg to the euro at 1 EUR = 655.957 F CFA, locked since 1999 (previously pegged to the French franc). This anchor delivers price stability but limits each member's ability to tailor policy for domestic conditions.

When Mali gained independence from France on September 22, 1960, it initially kept the CFA franc. But in 1962, President Modibo Keïta pulled Mali from the monetary union and launched the Malian franc — asserting economic sovereignty alongside political freedom. The experiment proved costly. Lacking the stability of the CFA system, the Malian franc weakened steadily against regional peers. After two decades of monetary isolation, Mali rejoined the CFA zone on June 1, 1984, converting at 2 Malian francs per 1 CFA franc and resuming shared monetary governance.

France's colonial footprint across West Africa created the monetary architecture that persists today. In 1945, Paris established the CFA franc — originally abbreviating